Good morning Missies!
We know you love advice straight from the experts and in our quest to inform you with the best possible information to make your wedding planning straightforward, today we have been quizzing the very talented soprano and wedding singer, Joanne McCabe. Singing since she was 11, there’s not a lot she doesn’t know. View Joanne’s profile here.
Joanne McCabe Soprano & Wedding Singer
As a wedding singer and musician, I have basically been surrounded by weddings since the age of 11 – coming up on 20 years, thanks to a very young introduction into the ropes by my experienced mother! We still provide most wedding ceremony music together when our other performances allow and between us we offer Soprano and Alto harmonies and numerous combinations of piano, organ, guitar, whistles, harmonica and more. We love helping couples personalise their ceremony and seeing as music is my passion I thought I’d offer couples some insight and advice!
Top tips for choosing ceremony music:
- Decide what mood you want to create; elegant, haunting, lively, fun, solemn, warm etc.
- Think about your venue and how the bride, in particular, envisages her entrance.
- Decide what musical sounds you never tire of; you may love guitar but would you love it for 10 pieces or will you get bored? Do you love a string quartet? Will you miss the option of a singer to portray some special lyrics? If you can find musicians/singers who do variety then great!
- Chat about the budget – Most weddings nowadays are on a tight budget which is almost always exceeded. As suppliers we understand that. For me, I think of the ceremony music as the very first point of contact between guests and your day. It either maximises and perfectly underscores the WOW moment the doors open and the bride appears or it lets it down. Ceremonies in general have a reasonably strict structure to follow. Music is your opportunity to personalise and make your ceremony unique. Often I think ceremony music can be undervalued as couples think about the reception party – but remember this is the moment it all happens, what is going to make that moment set the bar high for the rest of the day?
Where to place music:
We love to put music anywhere we can to frame and personalise the ceremony. Usually for a church ceremony this can be approximately 12 pieces.
Appropriate places would be:
Brides Entrance – choose something elegant
Lighting of the Individual Candles
Responsorial Psalm
Gospel acclamation
Lighting of the Marriage Candle
Offertory
Sign of Peace
Communion (2 pieces)
Reflection (pick something either really beautiful or with special lyrics here – this is the one point where the couple can just sit, listen and take in the moment)
Signing of the Register
Recessional (lively is best to set the tone for the celebration that’s following!)
For a civil, humanist or any other type of ceremony we may have less opportunity within the text for music but get creative and make new spaces. Have a piece or two at any point where guests can just enjoy the music. The exchanging of rings is another beautiful point. Some couples add things like hand fasting, sand mixing etc which musicians can underscore. It is also beautiful if you have a guest reading a poem to have a melody set the scene and pace for this and make the words even more memorable and haunting.
Musical Trends:
Some songs certainly do the rounds and many stand the test of time. In my 20 years in the business ones that come to mind are ‘Everything I Do’ – Bryan Addams, ‘The Prayer’ Andrea Boccelli & Celine Dion, ‘My Heart will go On’ – Titanic, ‘From this moment On’ – Shania Twain and more recently ‘To Make you feel my Love’-Adele, ‘A Thousand Years’ – Christina Peri & ‘The One’ – Kodaline.
Don’t let a piece that makes you feel those goosebumps be left out because it’s too common but likewise dig deeper with that Youtube search and you may find a gem! One that I adore singing came from such a search – ‘This I promise You’ by Garth Brooks. I’ve sang it so many times and still I feel the emotion of every word when I do. We’ve had requests from everything from ‘You’ll never walk Alone’ to surprise the Liverpool mad groom, to the Furey’s ‘When you were sweet 16’ for childhood sweethearts’ and ‘I Loved her First’ by Heartland for the sentimental parents. All have meant something really personal for the couple and helped them step away from the generic.
One piece of advice is to be aware of the importance of the step you’ve decided to take and the venue you have chosen and let the music be appropriate for both. At times I am asked to perform things that I view as more suitable as a first dance and I will always chat through these concerns with the couple. For example, ‘All of Me’ – John Legend. A gorgeous song but something about the lyrics ‘your smart mouth’ etc just don’t sit well in a church ceremony. Think about this when choosing.
Above all, shop around and make sure you are getting the variety and professionalism you want, that you can be advised where necessary and that you can look back fondly on, and share memories every time you hear that special song throughout your married lives. When words are not enough, music speaks. Make sure it tells your love story.
